Outlaw is the hero as Blazers knock off Pistons

Bruce Ely/The OregonianTravis Outlaw and LaMarcus Aldridge celebrate the win as the Portland Trail Blazers face the Detroit Pistons at the Rose Garden.

Shortly before Wednesday's game against Detroit, Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan wondered if he had reached Travis Outlaw during a one-on-one talk in the coach's office that morning.

It took until the game's final seconds for the coach to get his answer, but he didn't mind the wait.

Outlaw hit a short fadeaway baseline jumper with 8.9seconds left to give the Blazers the lead, and after Steve Blake defended an Allen Iverson miss, the Blazers skipped away with an improbable 84-83 victory over Detroit in front of 20,644 disbelieving fans at the Rose Garden.

The win ended a two-game losing streak for the Blazers (21-14) and a seven-game winning streak for the Pistons (21-12), who played without injured stars Rasheed Wallace and Richard Hamilton. It also likely ended a string of four games in which the Blazers will play without star Brandon Roy, who expects to return from a right hamstring injury in the Blazers' next game, Saturday at home against Golden State.

The Blazers escaped Roy's hiatus with a 2-2 record, which came against some of the NBA's elite teams, and along the way the team might have discovered a couple of important character traits. Without Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge (26 points, six rebounds) proved he can amply fill in as a go-to guy, while Outlaw -- who has suffered through an otherwise indistinguishable start to the season -- showed he hasn't lost his ability to shoulder the burden of taking a game-winning shot.

He called a morning meeting after shootaround, and the subject was simple and to the point: McMillan wanted more from Outlaw. Not only because Roy was missing his fourth consecutive game, but mainly because Outlaw had muddled his way through a rather ordinary couple months of the season.

Outlaw, who trudged into the coach's office much like a dog with his tail between his legs, reacted to the coach's pointed speech like most of the Blazers players have throughout this season: blank stare, few words, several nods.

McMillan knew Outlaw heard him. He just didn't know if he reached him.

"We will see tonight," McMillan said before the game.

The answer, of course, was emphatic, as Outlaw finished with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting, which included the Blazers' final two baskets.

"He delivered," McMillan said.

The first delivery -- a driving, spinning bank shot against noted defender Tayshaun Prince -- came with 1:08 left and drew the Blazers to within 83-82.

After a defensive stop, during which the Blazers had to weather two attempts by Detroit, McMillan called timeout with 18.4 seconds left. Usually, McMillan would know exactly who he would diagram a play for: Roy.

With Roy out, he was just as sure to whom he would shift the responsibility.

"I knew who I wanted to go with, but I wanted to involve the coaches, and we all agreed: Travis is the best to have the ball if Brandon is not on the floor," McMillan said.

McMillan called for an isolation of Outlaw, who ended up being matched up against Arron Afflalo. The Blazers were ecstatic that Prince was not defending Outlaw on the final play, especially Outlaw, who said he knew he would be able to get off any type of shot against the shorter Afflalo.

The only question was whether he could make the shot.

"I don't too much think of the consequence of me missing a shot, you know," Outlaw said in his aw-shucks manner. "Every shot I shoot I think it's going in, bad or good."

Coincidentally, Aldridge had his own -one-on-one with McMillan the previous day, after practice. McMillan wanted Aldridge to assert himself and prove that he is worthy of being the No. 2 pillar of the franchise behind Roy. In the four games without Roy, Aldridge averaged 20.2 points.

Still, all of this celebration and basking in conversations gone right looked so improbable for much of the game. The Pistons early on were torching the Blazers with the pick-and-roll -- hitting 9 of their first 11 shots -- and building leads as large as 14 points in the second half.

But rookie Jerryd Bayless provided a huge spark -- offensively with determined drives and defensively with two steals -- and both Blake (2 for 2) and Rudy Fernandez (3 for 3) rediscovered their three-point touch, and suddenly the Blazers were within 68-65 entering the fourth.

Notes: Bayless recorded eight points in 17 minutes, both career highs. ... The Blazers are 11-2 against the Eastern Conference this season and completed a season sweep of the Pistons for the first time in six seasons. ... Blake added 10 assists to go along with 10 points, his second double double of the season. ... The Blazers made their final six three-pointers and finished 6 for 8. ... Aldridge was elbowed in his left ear and suffered what he termed a "tear." He wore a cotton swab in the ear and said he was having trouble hearing out of it.